Prudential plc intends to demerge M&G Prudential and float it as an independent company on the London Stock Exchange. M&G Prudential also announced the sale of £12 billion of its shareholder annuity portfolio to Rothesay Life.

The demerger will enable Prudential to focus on the higher growth markets of Asia, the US and Africa. M&G Prudential will become an independent UK and European fund manager with more control over its business strategy and capital allocation.

“The demerger will allow M&G Prudential to play a broader leadership role in the fast-changing savings and investments market within the UK and Europe,” said John Foley, CEO of M&G Prudential.

Nicholas Hyett, an Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, believes the split “makes sense” for “an organisation as complex and diverse as Pru.” The demerger “allows investors to get a firmer handle on what’s going on at each of the component businesses, and should help M&G focus on its own progress rather than having to compete with the rapidly growing Asian business for management attention,” he told City A.M.

Tikehau, Nippon Life to buy stakes in DWS

Tikehau Capital and Nippon Life will become anchor investors in DWS (Deutsche Bank’s asset management business) when it floats next Friday. Tikehau Capital has placed an order worth €250 million, while Nippon Life will acquire a 5 per cent stake in DWS. Deutsche Bank is planning to sell 20 per cent of DWS at €30-36 a share.

Nippon Life will form a strategic partnership with DWS that will involve joint product development and distribution opportunities to accelerate DWS’ growth in Asia. DWS will also manage some assets for the Japanese insurer.

Alternatives specialist Tikehau Capital is holding talks with DWS about collaborating. “We have identified meaningful areas of mutual cooperation and complementarities and we look forward to working together on the implementation of our respective growth strategies,” said Tikehau’s Co-Founder Antoine Flamarion.

DWS, which has €700 billion under management, plans to invest €90 million hiring about 100 staff over the medium term to reinforce distribution, the investment platform and its digital capabilities.

BlackRock carves out Client Portfolio Solutions unit

BlackRock has established a new division called Client Portfolio Solutions (CPS) and appointed Managing Director Ryan Marshall to lead it. He was previously Global Head of BlackRock’s Client Solutions Group. The new unit will include more than 100 people and will focus on building and running custom portfolios, including outsourced CIO mandates and model portfolios, as well as asset allocation.

CPS will work alongside a new portfolio research group that sits within BlackRock Investment Institute and uses market assumptions to direct portfolio construction and asset allocation. It will also collaborate with BlackRock’s third-party manager research team, which plans to double its coverage over the next two years.

Additionally BlackRock is planning to create a team focusing on the challenges faced by its strategic partnership program clients.

“As demand grows at double-digit rates industry-wide for portfolio construction and asset allocation services and solutions, no firm is better positioned to respond than BlackRock,” wrote CEO Larry Fink and President Rob Kapito in a memo seen by Citywire. They described CPS as “a new investment pillar for the firm.”

Man Group launches workforce diversity campaign

Man Group is rolling out its ‘Paving the Way in 2018’ campaign to enhance the diversity of its workforce and to address the “lack of pipeline” challenge, referring to the diversity of the pool of available candidates who “may consider themselves to be in a minority or atypical profiles for our industry.” The campaign will encompass initiatives focused on long- and short-term recruitment and retention. The hedge fund manager will also conduct research into new and innovative ways to foster better diversity.

“Our goal is that lack of diversity becomes an irrelevant issue for the next generation, that they no longer need to talk about,” said Robyn Grew, Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel at Man Group. “This won’t change overnight, but this is our time to act, to make a difference and to hold ourselves and the industry accountable.”

Man already arranges mentoring for high-potential women, apprentices, returners, and under-represented groups including the LGBTQ community, those with disabilities and ethnic minorities. Drive, its global internal diversity and inclusion network, is run by employees and sponsored by senior management. Man offers flexible working arrangements for all staff and welcomes applications from candidates who wish to work flexibly.

Paving the Way was unveiled as Man disclosed its 21 per cent mean gender pay gap – among the lowest of any manager to announce data so far.

PM commissions Allianz’s Corley to
lead impact investing taskforce

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has asked Elizabeth Corley, Vice Chair of Allianz Global Investors, to lead an industry taskforce on impact investment. Corley already chairs an advisory group, which produced a report in November about building a culture of impact investing. The new taskforce will put the report’s recommendations into practice by encouraging financial services firms to develop innovative savings and investment products that deliver a social impact.

“The UK is a pioneer in impact investing,” May said. “Our financial institutions have long-recognised the importance of using their investments to generate a positive social impact as well as a financial return. The challenge now is for industry to unlock the capital to boost impact investment even further, finding solutions to some of the burning injustices we face as a society, and helping make sure the country works for everyone.”

Macquarie acquires ValueInvest

Macquarie Investment Management will buy ValueInvest Asset Management, a Luxembourg-based global and Japanese equity specialist with €4 billion under management. The deal is expected to close towards the middle of this year. ValueInvest’s 17-strong team will continue to be led by CEO Jesper Alsing and CIO Jens Hansen.

“Part of our strategy is to selectively expand and strengthen our global capabilities by adding the best investment talent to the business,” said Ben Bruck, Global Head of Macquarie Investment Management. “ValueInvest will be an excellent complement to our existing high-conviction equity strategies, and we believe Macquarie’s multi-boutique equity structure and global investment platform will provide a natural fit for the ValueInvest team.”

Aon has hired Bill Gourlay as Global Head of Investment Product Development, a new role. He was CEO of Idea Group, a fintech provider of business process improvement solutions to the pensions and alternative investments sectors.

BlackRock’s Head of Global Fixed Income, Tim Webb, is leaving. Rich Kushel, Head of Multi-Asset Strategies, will take on Webb’s responsibilities while also continuing in his current role.

Carleton College in Minnesota has appointed Kelsey Deshler as CIO of its $828 million endowment. She was Global Head of Manager Research at BlackRock.

The Council of Institutional Investors has appointed Ashbel Williams, CIO of the Florida State Board of Administration, as its Chairman.

Fidelity International has named Christian Staub as Managing Director of its Continental European business. He was BlackRock’s Head of Institutional Client Business for Continental Europe and Country Head for Switzerland. At Fidelity, Staub replaces Jon Skillman, who is moving into Fidelity’s Global Workplace Investing group.

Natalie Baylis will join GAM in June as Group Head of Compliance, a newly-created board-level role. She spent the last 12 years with the Financial Conduct Authority, where she has served since 2013 as Chief Counsel for Markets, Wholesale, Funds and Prudential Regulation. Dirk Spiegel, Group General Counsel, is leaving GAM to pursue other opportunities. Kenneth Dursht, General Counsel US, will fulfil his responsibilities until a replacement is appointed.

David Solomon is expected to succeed Lloyd Blankfein as CEO of Goldman Sachs when he steps down, perhaps as soon as this year’s end. Solomon (who masquerades as DJ D-Sol in his spare time) will become the bank’s sole President and COO next month. He currently shares both titles with Harvey Schwartz, who is retiring.

Institutional Limited Partners Association, a global organisation representing private equity investors, has named Steven Nelson as CEO. He was COO of Cambridge Associates.

Invesco has expanded its global solutions team with three appointments. Alexandre Mincier joins as Global Head of Insurance Client Solutions Development in Paris; he was Global CIO of HSBC Insurance. Mark Humphreys becomes Head of EMEA Client Solutions Development in London; he was Head of Fiduciary Management at Schroders. Vincent de Martel comes on board as a Solutions Strategist for North America, based in San Francisco; he was Head of Product Strategy for BlackRock's multi-asset risk parity/factor suite.

Investec Asset Management has hired BlackRock’s Loc Vukhac and Mercer’s Matt Hagbom as Regional Directors, responsible for engaging with institutional investors in the North Eastern and Midwest areas of the US, respectively.

Neuberger Berman has appointed PIMCO’s Alan Isenberg to run Product Strategy and Marketing globally. He is based in Hong Kong.

Point72 Asset Management has promoted Kirk McKeown to Director of Proprietary Research. In this newly-created position, he will oversee three groups: Point of the Spear, Aperio and Data Sourcing and Strategy. McKeown established Point of the Spear two years ago to help Point72’s investment managers to better understand and work with the firm’s data and quant teams, which include Aperio.

Principal Global Investors has hired Frank Richter to run its German and Austrian operations. He was Standard Life Investments’ Head of Institutional Business for Germany and Austria.

Ryan Labs Asset Management in New York has brought in a five-strong leveraged finance team from American Capital Leveraged Finance Management, headed up by Mark Pelletier.

Stanhope Capital has added Alex Kershaw to its portfolio management team as a Partner. He previously ran Cambridge Associates’ London office.

State Street Global Advisors has promoted Lochiel Crafter to Head of its Global Institutional Group, responsible for worldwide distribution. He was Head of Asia Pacific and will be replaced by James MacNevin, SSGA’s COO in Asia Pacific.

Universal-Investment is bringing Michael Reinhard on board next month as COO in Frankurt. He was Global Head of Operations at AXA Investment Managers in Paris.

Vanguard has hired David He as COO for China, a newly-created role based in Shanghai. He joins from Fidelity International.

Accenture’s Arnaud de Batz has joined ESG research provider Vigeo Eiris as CEO.